What the best video editing software is depends on the goals of the production and how much you are willing to spend. This article will mostly deal with applications that are suitable to use on a personal computer, for example Adobe's affordable but very powerful Premiere Elements 7.


Video editing solutions are usually categorized in two groups: systems and software applications.

Systems

A video editing system is basically a computer that is custom built for video editing, running professional grade video editing software such as the Avid-system. As this is what large movie and broadcast companies use, it goes without saying that the price tag is a figure with many zeros in it. All components are especially design to work seamlessly together, making it a fantastically powerful tool to work with.

Software

Video editing software on the other hand is nothing more than a computer program, that you run on an ordinary computer (Windows/Linux PC, Apple Mac etc.). These come in many brands and varieties, costing anything from free to thousands of dollars. Generally speaking this is a much more affordable option than a full blown video editing system.

However, if you intend to use HD video quality and more advanced special effects you should be aware that this will require quite a powerful computer in order to work well.

Examples of video editing software

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro (often referred to as just FCP) is a professional grade video editing software that has been praised for its user interface and powerful features. As the program is manufactured by Apple and intended to be run on Macintosh computers, it is a very stable solution. The application is capable of editing video in a great variety of resolutions, making it a very flexible program.

This software caused a minor revolution on the market when it was first released, being the first program in its price range to boast such advanced features. At the time such features commonly cost ten times as much.

For the home video editor there is today also a lighter version of this software, called Final Cut Express. Although the application lacks some of the very advanced functions of the full version, it is still built on exactly the same interface as its bigger brother.

Adobe Premiere

A very good, affordable and consumer friendly alternative for Widows based PCs is the Premiere video editing software from Adobe.

As this application is very easy to integrate with other well-known products in the Adobe family, such as Photoshop and After Effects, it is a very competent software solution. After Effects is a software for creating special effects such as motion graphics.